•^ The Scents of Sarly Summer $£ 



presumably soon be grown in every garden. ' Leonato,' 

 very large-flowered, and fragrant and a strong grower, and 

 Mr. Dykes' * Moonlight,' with standards of the palest am- 

 ber and with smoky yellow falls and a striking yellow beard, 

 are also amongst the earliest flowering scented irises. 

 Flowering rather later are germanica alba, the white and 

 sweetly-scented variety of the common blue flag iris, 

 ' Shelford Chieftain' (Lpallidaxl. troy ana), 'Magnifica' 

 (raised by Messrs. Vilmorin), a strong grower with excep- 

 tionally large and beautiful flowers, the standards being 

 light blue and the falls reddish purple with yellow beards, 

 'Perdita,' a sweetly-scented cream self, ' Ringdove,' a soft 

 lilac blue, -pallida, growing 4 feet ; and ' White Knight,' 

 generally acknowledged to be the best of the white irises, 

 sweetly scented and a strong grower. Latest of all comes 

 the rather shy flowering but popular ' Lord of June ' — one 

 of the few irises which resents excessive sun-baking, for on 

 a hot dry soil and in full sun he droops his petals ; ' Myth,' 

 a clear lavender violet self, ' Medrano ' (raised by Messrs. 

 Vilmorin), a rich violet blue and more pleasingly scented, 

 I think, than any other iris, not exactly sweet, but more 

 like a muscatel grape. Of the Spanish irises {Iris xiphium) 

 the only scented one seems to be the dark blue. Of the 

 late-flowering scented beardless irises the most pleasingly 

 scented is /. graminea, which spreads its clumps in gener- 

 ous weed-like fashion. I think this humble little honey 

 and fruit-scented iris is most attractive when it is fading, 

 for then the style branches turn a lovely pink and look 

 exquisite nestling amongst the masses of green foliage. 

 /. graminea is a sun lover, and likes a damp soil, but will 

 flourish and spread even on a hot sandy soil if given part 

 shade, 



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